Impact of a Pharmacist-Managed Procalcitonin Program on COVID-19 Respiratory Tract Infection Outcomes and Health Care Resource Utilization.

Patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) often receive empiric antibiotic coverage. Procalcitonin (PCT) is a biomarker with Food and Drug Administration-approved guidance cutoffs for antibiotic use in lower respiratory tract infections. Herein we describe the implementation and impact of a pharmacist-managed PCT monitoring program in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. In this quasi-experimental, single-center, retrospective study of a prospective antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist-managed program, inpatients who were severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction positive were reviewed during weekday working hours and evaluated for appropriateness of antibiotic treatment by utilizing the PCT biomarker. As needed, the infectious diseases pharmacist offered feedback around antibiotic discontinuation in patients with PCT values ≤0.25 ng/mL. Adherence to PCT cutoffs, clinical outcomes, and utilization of health care resources were quantified and compared with a time frame immediately preceding the program's implementation. A total of 772 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were analyzed. The pre-intervention cohort was comprised of 519 patients, and 253 patients were included after program implementation. Antibiotics were prescribed within 72 hours of admission to 232 (44.7%) and 108 (42.7%) patients during the control and intervention phases, respectively. There was no difference in the primary outcome of percentage of patients who received >1 day of antibiotic therapy (23.5% vs 21.7%; P = .849) or in any secondary outcome including hospital length of stay, 30-day readmission rates, or discharge disposition. In a hospital where the majority of COVID-19 patients did not receive empiric antibiotics, the implementation of a pharmacist-managed PCT monitoring program did not significantly decrease antibiotic use or health care resource utilization.

Pharmacokinetics and Time above the MIC Exposure of Cefepime in Critically Ill Patients Receiving Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO).

This study determined the pharmacokinetics of cefepime in patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support to guide dosage selection. Cefepime population pharmacokinetics where characterized in Pmetrics for R for six critically ill patients receiving ECMO. Simulation was employed to determine the fT>MIC and total trough concentration of varying regimens in each patient to evaluate ability to achieve optimal pharmacodynamic exposure and thresholds for cefepime-associated neurotoxicity. Of the six participants, two required continuous veno-venous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) while four had a CrCL between 92-199 ml/min. All patients received 2 g q8h as a 3h infusion. A two-compartment model fitted the data best with median (range) parameter estimates as follows: clearance, 5.99 (4.10-10.29) L/h; volume of central compartment, 10.08 (2.45-15.14) L; and intercompartment transfer constants (k12), 3.58 (2.01-4.99) h-1 and k21, 1.70 (1.00-2.88) h-1. The 2g q8h (3h infusion) regimen resulted in >70% fT>MIC in all patients up to an MIC of 16 µg/mL, whereas 2g q12h (0.5h) resulted in 5/6 patients achieving 70% ƒT>MIC at 8 µg/mL but only 1/6 at 16 µg/mL. Aggressive dosing regimens resulted in trough concentrations exceeding conservative neurotoxicity thresholds. No patient demonstrated signs or symptoms of neurotoxicity during treatment. For ECMO patients with normal to augmented renal clearance similar to those presented here, or those receiving CVVHDF, these data support dosing regimens of 2g q8h (3h infusions) to empirically target MICs up to 16 µg/mL. Larger studies are needed to determine how ECMO affects cefepime pharmacokinetics.